Monday, December 31, 2012

~A successful (and very last minute) 23 hour drive after a cancelled flight. We received notification around 9:30am, made a snap decision to rent a car, and were on the road shortly after noon. Lily was a trooper - she played lots of games, watched a few movies on my phone and was all around a very good girl. William was happy as always...as long as one of us sat next to him holding his hand. We have nicknamed him 'high maintenance'. :)

~An entire week to spend with family and friends. Ryan hadn't been home in a year and was extra excited!

~Lots of family and friends meeting William for the first time. We were thrilled to show off our newest addition.

~Spending one evening with just my siblings and parents - I can't tell you the last time that happened! It's been years since our immediately family was all together without an extra crowd.

we missed our Auntie M and were so happy to see her!

knock off "Stetson salad" from Cowboy Ciao...amazing...thanks Nanny!

can you tell how exhausted Ryan is after being awake for 48 hours?

meeting Uncle Matt and Aunt Kristin for the first time!

lots of fun with Papa Kurt

it's been years since the three of us hung out without a huge crowdthankful for such a fun evening!(ignore my no-makeup, bags under my eyes after being awake for two days straight)

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

~You have mastered rolling from back to tummy. The moment we lay you down, you flip over. Last week, I came home from exercising early one morning to find Daddy in your room. I asked if you had just woken up but Daddy replied sheepishly that actually HE woke YOU up - he noticed on the video monitor that you were sleeping on your tummy and panicked. Guess he doesn't know the rule of never waking a sleeping baby. :)

~Speaking of sleeping, I hope I can safely say you are sleeping through the night. After a week of reverting back to 2am, you have consistently been sleeping until 6am or later (Daddy woke you up at 6:45am). With the exception of a few nights when your arms was stuck in the crib...a bumper is on your Christmas list!

~You took your first car trip up North and were an awesome traveler. You even slept decently in a play-n-pack while your sister stayed up late watching Disney Jr!~Your laugh is just fantastic and makes any rough day so much better. Of course you giggle the most for your big sister and she continues to love entertaining you.~You LOVE to 'stand' and have spent a little time in the exersaucer. This month, you have discovered your feet and are constantly taking off your socks. Time for some shoes to keep those toes warm!

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

We headed out for another adventure on a beautiful cool, crisp morning.

At around 32 degrees, we Phoenicians were loving the wintery start to our day.

Lily couldn't figure out what was all over my car...so we had to explain frost to our AZ gal.

Thanks to our Finnish friends Lily & Mimi, who lent us winter attire!

After we warmed up the car and drove an hour north, we reached our destination...the Grand Canyon.

It was spectacular of course and even Lily was impressed!

whoaa Daddy, what's through the trees?!

speachless...which for our girl is saying a lot

William slept...guess he thought it was a bit boring

Lily insisted on leading us around the entire day. I seem to remember doing the same thing on family vacations growing up.

I could barely watch Ryan and Lily on the ledge.Between my fear of heights and a crazy three year old, I was close to losing it!

Pictures don't do the Grand Canyon justice. We feel so lucky to be just hours away from such an amazing natural wonder. We can't wait to visit again...but this mama might have to wait until the kiddos are a bit older and not so 'adventurous'!